Gas apparatus.



J. F. LEEPER.

GAS APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17. 1915.

1,160,915. Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

fijiggfl f' I t Witnesses nven or Attorneys "to mattress Q orries,

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To all 257mm itera e concerns i I 7 Be it known that I,JAMESIFVVLEHEPER, a

citizen of the; United statesyresiding at; Lewistown, in) theCOHHty,;t)f ,l\ [1fll111 and, State of Pennsylvania, have nvented a newand usefultGas Apparatusof which. the following'is a, specification, a

,This invention relates to gas supplying apparatus especially designedfor use in; connection with cook stoves. t In some localities,particularlyinrural districts, it is necessary to usecoal, wood, or

oil as a fuel for cooking purposes, for the reason that gas is notavailable. ()ne of the objects of the present 1nvention is to providemeans whereby ordinary gas such as used for heat ng purposes can be,supplied to persons to whom piped gas is not available, it beingpossible to ship the gas to the consumerwho is provided with a storagetank having means of novel form whereby the pressure of the gas withinthe tank is maintained constant, so that the gas supplied to the burnersoft-he stove from the tank willissue therefrom atithe pressure: desiredand irrespective ofjthe quantity of gas contained within the storagetank. a,

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts, and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and H claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what'is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention. 7 In the accompanying drawing, which is a view showing,diagrammatically the complete apparatus, the preferred form of theinvention has been shown, certain of the parts being illustrated insection.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference 1 designatesastorage tank such, for example, as can be readily set up in a kitchenwhere it will have the appearance of anpordinary domestic boiler. Thisstorage tank has an outlet pipe 2in the top there,- of with whichcommunicates, a pressure in- G sasmin,

specification of Lettersl at ent. V Patient-Ba Now lg 1915;Applicationlfiled July 17, 19 15. 1 SerialNo. 40,486. 5 I

dicator -r3, sai d outlet pipe provided Witha valve 4: and bjeingconnected bya pipea5 to a burner or burners 6; of a cook stove or, thelike.

An inlet pipe 7 opens into thetank 1 and {is provided with a checkvalve8 whereby the escape of gas from the tank; through I i said, pipe 7is prevented. adapted to be' connected, as by means of a This pipe 7, iis one end of a supply tank 11. l r

H ;;Opening into the bottom portion of the storage tank is a waterinletpipe 12 having a valve casing 13 in which is provided a coupling9,tothe valved outlet pipe 10 at valve14 provided at'the lower end of arod 15; This rod may be guided ina bracket 16outstanding from the tankland located above the rod is a casing 17. having a diaphragm 18avhi'chforms the. bottom of a pressure chamber 19within the casing. I Thisdiaphragm constantly. engages the upper end of the rod 15 and thepressure chamber.

19 is: constantly in communication with the interior of the upperportion of the tankl through a pipe 20. A spring 21 may be mounted onthe rod- ,15 so as to bear downwardly on bracket 16 and upwardly againsta collar 22011 the rod 15. This spring serves to holdthe rod 15 normallyelevated and the valve 141 open, the diaphragm 18 at this time beingbuckled upwardly into the casing 17. Thus water is free to enter thetanki from the pipe 12, ilVhen, however, pressure in the casinglTreaches a predetermined degree, the diaphragm 18 will be moveddownwardly against the action of spring 21, thus to close valve 14 andout 05 the supply of water to the tank 1.

As before pointed out, it is designed to have a storage tank 1 togetherwith the regulating means, set up for each consumer andit is theintention to supply-the various consumers with tanks 11 charged with gasunder pressure. These tanks 11 properly charged can be delivered whenrequested and, upondelivery, can becoup'led up to the storage ,tanks bythe consumers.- v is It is designed to have all of the tanksll chargedwith gas under equal pressure and the tanks 1 and. 11; aresoproportioned that whena tank 11 iscoupled-to thepipe 7 of a the storagetank in the manner set forth, a valve 23 provided in the water supplytank words, under the proper pressure at which ,7 it should issue at theburner 6. alt has been found in practice that 'when'gas is thusa'dmitted to a storage tank 1, any'air ,con-

tained in the storage tank will first pass oii'tQj within the tank whenreaching ,a predeterof said tank through the burner 6, .the .valve ofwhich is firsto'pened'. As soon as all of the air has issued-from theburner 6 and-the combustible gas begins to leave the burner,

which fact c'an beireadily determined "by means of aflame, the valve tothe burner can be closed and, if desired, the tank 11' can be removedand returned to the {central station where it may be recharged. f Check.

valve 8 will of course prevent 'the escape of the gas contained underpressure in the storage tankl. After the gas has been-placed in 12 isopened'but as the pressure of the gas ingtank land downwardly on thediaphragm 18 is sufiicient to overcome spring 21 and to hold valve 14'toits seat, this opening of valve'23 will not result in'the flow of waterthrough pipe 12 into tank '1. opening the valve to one of the burners60f the stove connected to'tankl, gas will be discharged throughtheburner under the working pressure and can be ignited asordin'arilyAsthevpressure in the tank is lowered, the resi'stance offered to thelifting action'of spring 21 will diminish and said spring-will thusoperate to lift the, Valve-14 from its seat and admit an amount of waterthrough pipe 12 into the bottom portion of tank'l. This water'will serveto hold the gas in said tank/1 under pressure so that the desiredpressure in the-tank and at the burner will be maintained This waterwill continue to enter the tank as fast as the gas is removed therefrom,so that practically all of'the gas contained in thetank can be used andthe pressure will always be maintained the same. After the gas has beenconsumed, a drain cock 241can be opened so as to draw off the water,valve 23 being first closed. A new supply tank can then be coupled tothe storage tank and its contents directed thereinto, as beforedescribed.

I Although water is preferably used as a means for placing thegas'underpressure, it

isto be understood thatif'desired air under pressure can be used in lieuthereof under V certain conditlons and by the term water as usedin theclaims, it is intended tocover any form of fluid by which the desiredresults-'inay be secured. i

Whatfisclaimed is j V Q Apparatus' of the class described including astorage tank having a valved gas inlet and a valved outlet, a waterinlet pipe opening'into said tank, and means operated by the pressure,of gas withinthe tank for controllingth supp yo Water throughthepipeand into the tank.

2. ;Ap paratus off the class described ineluding a storage tank'ha-vinga valved gas ,1nlet, arwater inlet, a valved outlet, apressureindicator, and means operated by gas mined pressure, for closingcommunication betweenthe water supply pipe and the tank.

fing the passage of waterthrough the pipe,

a second valve in Y said pipe, anolf means operated by pressure ofgas intheitankfor closing the last named valve, and ,meansfor automaticallyopening said valve when the 7 pressure is reduced I 1; Apparatus of" theclass described d I eluding a storage tankhaving 'a 'valvedv gas inlet,a gas outlet, and a water :inlet,'a pressure chamber, a diaphragmcarried thereby, a valve in the water inlet,saidvalvebeing normallyopen, the diaphragm-constituting means for closing the valves whensubjected to a predetermined pressure'of gas in the t nk:

5. Apparatus of the "class 1 described including a storage tankhavingia' valved gas inlet, means foricoup'linga supply tankto said.inlet, a water inlet pipe opening into the storage tank, an outlet pipeextending fromthe top portion of the tank, an eXpan- -sible pressurechamber in l communication withthe upper portion of the tank, meansoperatedby the expansion of said chamber for closing communication{between the waten-pipeand the tank. p I i r 6. Apparatus of the-classdescribed including a storage tankhaving a valved gas inlet, means forcoupling a supply tank to said inlet, 'a water inlet pipe opening intothe storage tank, an outlet pipe extending from the top portion of thetank, an expansible pressure chamber in communication with the upperportion of the tank, means operated by the expansion of said chamber terpipe and the tank, and means for autothe water pipe and the tank whenpressure 7 for closing communication between thelwar 5 within the tankis reduced to a predetermined degree.

7. The combination with astoragetank 7 having an inlet pipe and a checkvalve within said pipe, of a supply tank coupled'to said pipe andadapted to supply gas under pressure to the storage tank, a valved gasoutlet, a water inlet pipe opening into" the storage tank, a valvetherein, an expansible In testimony that I claim the foregoing ascompression chamber in constant communi my own, I have hereto affixed mysignature cation With the upper portlon of the storin the presence oftwo Witnesses.

age tank, means operated by the expansion JAMES F. LEEPER. of saidchamber for closing the valve, and Witnesses:

means for automatically opening the valve JOSEPH GRAY,

during the contraction ofsaid chamber. W. B. RODGERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each; by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

